WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Ahead 2-0 with their
largest lead of the season and less than 30 minutes left, the
George Fox University Bruins were hit with a five-goal blitz in a
10-minute span by the Whitman College Missionaries, who went on to
a 5-2 win in Northwest Conference men's soccer Sunday
afternoon here at the Whitman Athletic Fields.
George Fox got on the scoreboard in the 29th minute when Nick
Schoen made a run up the left side and crossed to the far post to
an onrushing Andrew van der Werff, who finished to the middle of
the net from five yards out. The Bruins doubled their lead in
the 58th minute when Christian Reed struck pay
dirt from 20 yards out,unassisted. It was the first goal of
the season for both van der Werff and Reed.
The goal spigot for Whitman gushed opened seven minutes later
when a hustling Leland Matthaeus got to a ball just as George Fox
keeper Elliott Davis was reaching to pick it up. The ball popped
loose and rolled behind Davis for an easy finish by
Matthaeus. Seventy-one seconds later, Matthaeus knocked home
his second goal of the game and fifth of the season inside the far
post from 20 yards out to square the game at 2-2 after a cross from
the left by Junpei Tsuji.
Whitman took the lead when Jed Jacobson took a free kick
following a Bruin foul and launched a missile into the left corner
of the net from 30 yards away. It was his third goal of the
season and capped a string of three goals in only 2:30.
Less than five minutes later, Jacobson sent a cross from the
right side to Sam Freedman near the far post, who sent his sixth
goal of the season rolling to the right corner of the net.
The Missionaries then ended their 10-minute scoring spree at the
73:36 mark when Chris Perkins booted a cross from the left to
Tsuji, who was open in the middle of the field, and he struck home
his first college goal.
Whitman finished with a 26-9 shot advantage, including 13-6 in
shots on goal, and a 9-1 edge in corner kicks. Freedman
sparked the Missionary offense with seven shots, while Schoen had a
team-high three shots for the Bruins. Michael Bathurst made
four saves in goal for the Missionaries, and Davis had eight in 80
minutes for the Bruins before Kasey Haugan finished up.
NEXT: George Fox (0-12-2, NWC 0-10-1) hosts the
University of Puget Sound Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ... Whitman (8-6-3,
NWC 6-3-2) plays all three of its remaining regular season games at
home, starting with Linfield College Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
